Blog Book Tour: Sew Wild by Alisa Burke - An Interview with Alisa • Vicki O'Dell

I am so excited to be a part of the Book Blog Tour for Alisa Burkes new book “Sew Wild”. I’ve followed Alisa’s blog for a while now and I’ve always loved her messy graffiti inspired art and the way she uses layers and color. Now she’s adding thread to her arsenal of art supplies. Yippee!!

Today is DOUBLE exciting because I have a Review of “Sew Wild” over on Craft Test Dummies– Book Review: Sew Wild by Alisa Burke— as well as an interview with the crazy talented Alisa Burke right here on The Creative Goddess blog.

So go grab a cup of tea and enjoy our virtual visit with Alisa. 🙂

Welcome Alisa, and thank you for taking the time to visit today.

VO* I loved your story at the beginning of the book about how your mother tried to teach you to sew but you didn’t have the patience for it. I had the opposite problem… I wanted to learn but my mother didn’t have the patience for it so I ended up teaching myself! Are there other skills or techniques that you have had to come back to at a later time to master?

AB* I think the fact the I was taught to sew at an early age gave me the foundation for understanding basic concepts and sewing techniques that while I lately typically stick to really messy and expressive sewing I still find myself returning to the advice and lessons that my mom taught me long ago!

VO* As I said earlier, I’ve been a long time reader of your blog and I appreciate how you stay true to your style no matter what the trend is. Do you have any advice for someone who is still trying to find out what their style is and how to stay true to yourself despite what the media says is “on trend”?

AB* I think there is a really tricky balance between creating work that is current and then staying true to yourself and I find myself challenged with this on a daily basis! I try to stay away from finding inspiration and specific ideas from trends and in other peoples work. I stay off the computer when seeking inspiration and will often force myself to look for things in my experiences and my world that get my ideas flowing- this has become the only way that I can be authentic to myself and my art. I just don’t want the things I create to look like everything else out there so on a daily basis I spend a lot of time seeking inspiration and ideas in my own world and off the computer. I always tell people that when they are developing a style to start at home, within your environment, your interests, your passions and build off of this. For example- If you love to garden and have a lovely yard then it would be natural to somehow incorporate this passion into your art as a subject matter, for color inspiration, texture and design.

VO* I recently had a discussion with another creative lifestyle blogger about how we adore creating but neither one of us are crazy about getting our hands dirty. Even when I garden I wear gloves! Were you always comfortable with getting messy? If not, how did you get over it and do you have any suggestions for how I, or anyone else who has the same problem, can get over it?

AB* Yes, I have always been really messy when it comes to art (and cooking). Growing up, even though both of my parents are artists I was always getting caught and in trouble hiding spilled paint! Now that I have had years to learn and develop my style and creative routine I have found a really nice balance when it comes to being messy. I let myself be messy in the moment, I splatter, drip, spill, throw scraps and thread all over the floor as much as I want when I am in the middle of creating but when I am finished I clean up, put everything away (even if I come back to it the next day) and get organized. This is the only way I can keep the mess from taking over. I love being messy in my work when it calls for it but I know when to pull back and stay clean and crisp. In fact I even prefer to keep our living space (not my studio) really clean, simple and decorated with lots of white- I like to be able to come upstairs from my studio to a light, clean space. When I am teaching I always have students in class that don’t like being messy and once they give themselves permission they are usually the messiest in class!

VO* I love that you use a lot of what you have on hand for the project in front of you. I particularly like that you use a vintage iron! What are some upcycled, non-traditional or unconventional ways that you have embellished fabrics?

AB* I typically make my own fabric and will use just about anything! I love using bubble wrap, cardboard, vegetables that I carve into stamps. I usually look around for things that I have on hand before I buy something so it is not unusual to find me digging through the trash looking for anything that I can dip in dye or paint and use in my surface design projects.

VO* So as you may have gathered my goal in my creative work is to “Delight in a Creative Life!” What things do you do that make YOUR creative life delightful?

AB* It is hard to pick one thing because I am truly living my creative dream right now. But the most delightful things would be sharing inspiration with others, taking quiet time every day to draw and sketch for myself, using my camera to photograph things around me that are beautiful, making simple tasks like cooking dinner into a creative and inspiring experience and really just being present and thankful every day for the creative projects that I am blessed to be working on.

Thanks again, Alisa for taking the time to visit. I wish you all the best with your book, health for the new baby on the way and Bright Blessings in all of your creative endeavors.

Don’t forget to check out the book review here (link) and you can use the amazon.com link down in the lower right hand column of this blog to order the book!

You can also see the project I made inspired by Alisa’s book her

BLOG TOUR SCHEDULE

Sept. 14 Sew, Mama, Sew http://sewmamasew.com/

Sept. 15 Balzer Designs http://www.balzerdesigns.typepad.com

Sept. 16 CraftTestDummies.com and The Creative Goddess http://www.vickiodell.com

Sept. 17 FaveCrafts http://www.favecrafts.com/

Sept. 19 Crescendoh – Jenny’s Blog http://blog.crescendoh.com/crescendo/legato

Sept. 21 Scarlet Time http://www.christytomlinson.typepad.com/the_scarlet_lime/

Sept. 22 A Stich in Dye http://stitchindye.blogspot.com

Sept. 23 Living Art at the Speed of Life http://pamcarriker.com

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